Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Acer Inc., the world’s fourth-largest computer maker, will return to profit this quarter as it
no longer has the excess inventory problems which led to losses
in the prior two periods, President Jim Wong said today.

Shipments of Ultrabooks, its thin and light notebooks, will
be 250,000 to 300,000 units this quarter, meeting expectations,
Wong said in Taipei, where Acer is based. Ultrabook sales won’t
be affected by the floods in Thailand because hard disks used in
those models are mostly made in China, he said.

Acer, which had risen to be the world’s second-largest
computer maker, has lost money and market share for the past two
quarters amid stiffer competition and inventory write-offs in
Europe. Investments in China, the world’s largest computer
market, will help Acer climb to second spot among notebook
makers there next year from fourth currently, Wong said.

Shares of Acer rose 0.3 percent to NT$33.50 at the close in
Taipei, stemming its decline this year to 63 percent. The
benchmark Taiex index has dropped 23 percent in the period.

Acer is expected to post a loss of NT$102 million this
quarter, according to the average of 13 analysts’ estimates
compiled since it reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 21.
Six of the analysts project a loss for the period and seven
expect a profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Floods in Thailand will cause a 10 percent to 15 percent
global shortage of hard disk drives, with Acer able to cope with
the problem because its suppliers have inventories of the
components, Wong said.

“Abnormalities in terms of channel inventory stored in
freight forwarders’ warehouses” prompted Acer on June 1 to
announce it would cut 300 jobs and take a $150 million inventory
write-off in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Stockpiles have more than halved to about 30 days from as
much as 80 days of inventory, while the company may also raise
prices by up to 3 percent to tackle higher costs after the
floods in Thailand, spokesman Henry Wang said yesterday.